Tower of Clubs and Lost Hearts
by DarkKitten666
Summary: Alice stumbles upon a strange place she never knew. Following Nightmare's voice, will it help her or condemn her to unhappiness? Without Julius, her reason for staying, will her life in Wonderland change or will she deide to leave forever?
1. Chapter 1

**Another FanFiction. The inspiration for this one came from a manga (Dont quite recall the name because it was japanese but i do know it was Clover no Kuni no Alice, but whatever.) its only loosly based off of it because... well... i couldnt find many pages to it so anything else is either from the game or my own mind. Mwahahahaha!**

**Im tired of writing my apologies so i will just say this. i suck at spelling, grammar, and sometimes making since. Thank you for understanding.**

**All characters belong to Quinrose... unfortunately...**

"Julius? Julius?!" Alice Liddell yelled out. "Julius…?" the only reply she got was the echoes of her own voice within the strange stairway. Doors dotted the walls with staircases going up to them in all directions. "W-where am I….?" she murmured.

"Over here." Cried a voice. She followed the sound to a door.

"Where…?"

"Open me."

"W-what?! N-n-no!" She screamed as she ran from the door. "Ahhh!" she screamed as she fell. She dug her nails into her head, covering her ears. The doors whispered to her.

"Open the door…. Turn the knob…. Open the door."

"NO! Leave me alone! I just want to go home to the clock tower!" she cried. The voices didn't stop. Tears flowed freely from her eyes. "W-what's happening?"

"-ice… Alice….." whispered a voice on the edge of her mind. "Alice."

"N-Nightmare?!" She called out. "Where are you?!"

"Come this way…." He said.

"I… I don't know where that way is. Nightmare, I'm scared!"

"Don't look at the doors." He chuckled. "Just listen to my voice and follow my instructions."

"I-is this a dream…?"

"Just listen to my voice…." Alice nodded and began to run, following Nightmare's every order. "No, to the left. Yes, up those stairs."

"Nightmare! I'm exhausted. How much farther?" She asked.

"Your almost there sweetie. Just a little farther."

"M-my chest…. It burns…." She whimpered.

"There…" She looked up to find a door. "That door. Open it."

"B-but I-"

"Open it."

"You're just as bad as the other doors!" she cried. Her eyes filled with tears once more.

"Trust me…" the voice whispered as it left her mind. The door was different than the other wooden ones. A green clover was painted on the double doors. This door did not speak to her as the others did, begging her to enter them. The voices of the other doors left her mind when she heard the familiar tone of Nightmares mysterious voice. She clenched her fist.

"I… I am strong." She tried to convince herself as her hand reached for the door knob. Her hand was uncontrollably shaking.

**All in all it was a really short beginning. I didnt want to continue from this point so maybe it will tease you to want to know what happens next. (Although you can probably guess what happens)**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2. yay.**

The door suddenly opened as her fingers lightly touched the knob. A man in a suit had opened it. His dark raven hair was short with long bangs. His face slender along with his fit body. Alice wondered what kind of muscles the man would have. She shook the thought. He had a small lizard tattoo on his neck. His yellow eyes looked at the poor girl as she stood speechless. A cigarette stuck out of the side of his mouth.

"Alice~!" cried a man farther into the room.

"N-Nightmare?!" she called out as she saw the incubus. His face was pale. His silver hair almost glittered in the sun that found its way into his office. He wore a suit for once and his eye patch still covered one of his eyes. "Nightmare!" she called out, pushing aside the man who answered the door and running to the familiar face. "I-I was so scared!" she said, hugging his leg. "I-is this a dream?"

"I'm afraid not, sweetie. This is the real deal." He smiled at her hoping to calm her nerves. She looked up at him and slightly smiled back, at least until she breathed in and found that after running all the way here and being surrounded in cigarette smoke she was unable to breath. She wheezed and began to cough uncontrollably. "Oh crud! I'm sorry Alice; I didn't know cigarette smoke affected you this way! Gray! Put it out! Or better yet get out!" He had jumped up to open the window, hoping to get rid of the scent that was stopping her breaths. The man who answered the door rolled his eyes and reluctantly put out his cigarette.

"What is so special about this girl?" he asked.

"Don't say that. Alice IS special. She is a foreigner… Alice don't even think that you aren't special. You are special." She continued to wheeze on the floor as Nightmare continued to talk. "Here, sit in my chair. Make yourself comfortable. I'm sorry for my subordinate. He can be so rude sometimes." His subordinate blinked as the girl struggled to do even the simple task of getting into the chair.

'How pathetic…' he thought in his mind. Nightmare shot him a glare that made him almost jump out of his skin.

"This man…" Nightmare pointed to him. "This is Gray Ringmarc. Gray, this is Alice Liddell~" Gray grumbled in response.

"N-nice t-to meet you G-Gray R-Ri-Ringmarc." She wheezed. She grabbed her throat and attempted to breath. Nightmare continued to apologize until he started coughing up blood.

"Lord Nightmare!" Gray called out as he reached for his handkerchief. He began to wipe away the blood from this incubus's mouth. After both stopped coughing and were able to breathe correctly, Alice hugged Nightmare.

'I was so scared.' She thought. He smiled as he patted her head.

"Don't squeeze master Nightmare too tight." Gray ordered, trying to pry the girl off of Nightmare. This in turn made Alice squeeze harder so she wouldn't be torn apart from the only thing she recognized. She began to cry.

"Gray! Stop it! You're scaring her!" Gray did as he was told and pulled away. The girl loosened her grip on Nightmare's torso and hid her face in the crook of his neck.

"I thought she was already scared." He mumbled.

"Well you're scaring her worse. If you can't be nice then get out." Gray sighed and went to sit down in the chair that was as far away from the girl. "that includes your thoughts about her too." Nightmare growled. Gray looked away and decided to use the trick he had taught himself to block the mind reader from his thoughts.

"I-I wanna go home!" she cried.

"Alice, sweetie. I'm afraid you can't."

"W-w-what?!" fresh tears began to pour out of her eyes.

"Calm down, please. I will explain everything to you if you just please stop crying…"

"I… I wanna see Julius." She sniffled, rubbing her eyes.

"I'm sad to say that you can't…." He whispered. "It's impossible…. Wait. Don't cry! Let me explain!" he yelled as she hugged him tighter. "Can you let go of me…? I won't go anywhere; I just want to see your face." It took a bit of coaxing but the 20 year old girl had finally let go of Nightmare and had stopped crying, sitting in the chair before the desk.

"Now…." Nightmare began. "You were previously living in the country of Hearts, right?" she nodded. "Well, the land has moved."

"Moved?"

"Yeah. Um…. This is the land of Clovers now… So I am proud to be the first to welcome you to my home, the Country of Clovers." He smiled at her.

"Clovers… Moved? How is that possible? I was sleeping until I opened the door to that strange place…." She murmured.

"It's the land that moves, not the people. Here… There is no clock tower. This is the Clover tower and it took the clock tower's place in the move."

"T-then where is Julius?"

"He stayed in the country of Hearts along with the Amusement Park and Gowland." She frowned.

'Two of my favorite people….' She thought, looking down at her lap.

"Aww. Why aren't I one of you favorite people?" Nightmare asked, childishly.

"No offence but I only saw you in my dreams. I thought you weren't actually real. Maybe some comforting idea that was there for me in my dreams….."

"Well I'm real, as you can plainly see…" he muttered. "Wait. You thought I was there to comfort you?"

"In my world they would always say that a dream is a wish the heart makes. I guess I wished for someone to be there for me." Nightmare smiled at her remark.

"And I always will be here for you." He said proudly.

"I'm afraid she has to go now." Gray interrupted. "You have paperwork to do."

"Nooooo. I wasn't to spend time with Alice." Nightmare pouted. "I won't do any work if Alice isn't here with me."

"But you can't do work with her here." Gray growled.

"We can't just send her out into the world. Everything has changed. She would get lost."

"We can order one of the servants to take her around." Gray snapped. The arguing went on for quite some time. Alice just sat there watching the two argue. Although she didn't follow the arguing, their faces proved more entertainment than what they were actually saying.

"And that's that!" Nightmare said as he picked Alice up only to put her on his lap when he took his chair back. He looked around her for his pen so he could do his paperwork. Alice just sat there confused and Gray was in shock when Nightmare actually started doing his work. Nightmare wrapped one arm around Alice's waste while he used the other to write.

"What just happened?" Alice asked. Gray's eyes began to widen as he looked at her in wonder.

"You really are something special!" He said.

**Ha ha. Gray started out as a butt hole. I wonder if he is going to play nice from now on?**


	3. Chapter 3

**This is getting to be so hard...**

"Can I go show Alice around now?" Nightmare asked. Alice was still sitting on his lap and her butt had finally gone numb.

"Did you finish your paperwork?" Gray answered with another question.

"Yes. So please, please, please, please, please."

"Fine. You did your job so now you can go out and play." Gray chuckled. 'At least with her gone I can light up again.'

"YAY!" Nightmare cheered. He picked Alice up and threw her over his shoulder.

"Don't I get a say in this…?" she mumbled.

"I already know what you want to do. Sitting here made your butt numb so we are going to go check out the world." Nightmare said happily.

"Well is this really necessary? Throwing me over your shoulder like this?"

"I don't want you to get lost."

"Well I can't see anything like this. If you don't want me lost why don't you-" she stopped talking as soon a Nightmare gently placed her down and took her hand. "I hate when you read my mind like that…." She muttered.

"But it's so convenient for me." He smiled. "Now come on." He then began to drag her through the tower. "This is the kitchen. If you ever see Gray in here, run…. Well… Except for hot cocoa. He makes the best." Many servants were in the kitchen making food and such. It made Alice wonder what Gray would be doing in the kitchen if he had no need to cook. "He likes to cook…" Nightmare mumbled. "But he is horrible at it… Moving on!"

"This will be your room, Alice. Look, it is right next to mine~" he chimed.

"You seem to expect me to stay here. Why?"

"Well there is no way I'm going to let you out of the tower to go see the other territories. After a move it's too unstable. They are probably busy with work, so you would only get in their way. And…"

"And…?" she asked.

"And I can talk to Julius when you want me to give him a message."

"W-what?! How?!"

"I can go into his dreams, silly." Nightmare laughed at her. She had completely forgotten that she first met him in her dreams. He was so kind…. "I'm not as kind as you think I am." Nightmare said, not even looking at her. "People are afraid of me…" He whispered.

"Well I'm not afraid of you." Alice announced. Nightmare looked at her with sad eyes.

"You probably should be… I am a nightmare…." He mumbled, looking away from her once more.

"Don't be sad, Nightmare. You were always a dream to me, never a nightmare." Nightmare looked at her and gave her a sad smile. She grinned right back and took his hand. "Come on. Let's check out more of this tower of yours."

Several hours later the two had gone through what seemed to be every room in the tower. They had snuck some ice cream out of the kitchen and were now resting on the roof. The sun was setting at this point.

"It's beautiful…."Alice whispered.

"Indeed…" Nightmare nodded.

"I… I'm glad to have finally met you in person, Nightmare." She said. He blushed.

"I-I'm glad to hear it. I'm also happy to see the real you." He paused, taking a bite of ice cream. He pointed out to the horizon "So…. over there is where the mansion is and…." He moved his finger to point in another direction. "That is where the castle should be."

"Hm…. Then what's that big forest over there?" She asked.

"That… That is the Joker's territory. I don't want you to go there…." He muttered. "He is creepy…"

"So that is kinda the place that replaced the Amusement Park?" She asked.

"You could say that, yeah. But it isn't fun. It is very easy to get lost there."

"Lord Nightmare. It is time to take your medicine." Gray interrupted.

"But I don't wanna." Nightmare moaned.

"Come on Nightmare. It's not like it's a shot, it won't hurt just to take the medicine. You might feel better after taking it."

"But it's disgusting…" he mumbled.

"Just take your medicine, for me?" she asked, flashing him a grin. Then Nightmare sighed and took the water and swallowed the pills down with a gulp of water.

"Fuuuu." He sighed after all the water was gone.

"There~. See? Isn't that better now?" She asked, smiling at him. He smiled back and gave Alice a hug.

"Incredible…" Gray whispered to himself.

**Yes, yes. Short chapter. The next one is shorter I think.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Part of me wants to ruin the story so Alice can be with Julius...**

**Nightmare: but I want Alice.**

**Me: I know you do but I love Julius. My heart is for him winning.**

**Nightmare: But he has you, Why cant I have Alice.**

**Me: Ok. I will try to not ruin it for you. You need some love too...**

Alice was finally getting ready for bed after her long day of running and sitting. She was exhausted. She then suddenly remembered she didn't have anything to sleep in. Everything was left at the clock tower. She decided that maybe Nightmare could help her. She left the room and knocked on her neighbor's door.

"Yes, Alice?" Nightmare called. Alice then opened the door and entered the room. She found him lying on his bed in his pajamas. The shirt was white and silky with golden buttons going down the front. The bottoms were black silk. She blushed.

"S-sorry for intrud-"

"Oh. It's quite alright. I was hoping you would come over soon." She frowned.

"I-I only came over here because I don't have anything to sleep in." she mumbled.

"Oh… Hm… well…" He began to think. "The stores would already be closed so…." he got up and went to his dresser. "You think you can live with one of my large silk nightshirts for one night? It would hang like a dress on you." He laughed. She nodded and blushed, taking the shirt and leaving his room as fast as she could. "Good night sweetie." He called after her. "see you soon." He whispered to himself.

She changed into the shirt as soon as she got back to her room. It only hung mid-thigh on her, but it was only for one night. She just hoped nobody would see her like this. She climbed into the warm, plush bed.

"Hello, Alice." Nightmare said as soon as she entered the dream world. He was floating several feet from her in this dark space.

"Did I really fall asleep that fast…?" she mumbled to herself. Nightmare chuckled.

"You look very good in my nightshirt~." Nightmare cooed.

"What?!" Alice looked down to reveal that she was only wearing what she had fallen asleep in. "Nightmare! What did you do?!"

"Hm? Oh, I just wanted to see how cute you looked in my clothes." He smiled.

"I hate you…" She muttered. "Put me back in my normal clothes!" she yelled.

"Don't be like this, Alice. I think you look adorable."

"I don't care. It feels so awkward…. At least I'm getting a new dress tomorrow."

"I wish you could always wear that though." Nightmare pouted.

"But its soooo embarrassing." She said. "Why don't you just wear the shirt so I can have your pants?"

"Who ever said I wear anything under my pants?" He wagged his eyebrow.

"Ok, ok, ok. Just put me in my normal clothes now." He sighed.

"Fine…." Looking back up at Alice, Nightmare asked, "So… what do you think of Clover so far?"

"Well….. It's definitely not Hearts…." She mumbled.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Nightmare asked.

"Well… it doesn't feel like…. Home…."

"It will eventually. Just give it some time." Nightmare said, cheerfully. Alice frowned.

"So….. What's up with Gray?" She asked.

"Well… he is my loyal subordinat-"

"You know fully well that is not what I am asking."

"I think you should probably ask him yourself. I feel it isn't my place to tell." She sighed.

"Fine…. Well…. Is there anything else you want to talk about or can I get some good dreams in while I sleep…?"

"Are you saying spending time with me isn't a good dream?"

"It feels… awkward… and I spent all day with you."

"Fine. Good night Alice. I will see you in the morning~"

"W-wait!" she yelled out. "One last thing. If you see Julius…. Tell him he needs to remember to sleep and eat. I'm worried about him."

"I will make sure I relay the message if I see him." Nightmare smiled as his voice faded away. Alice then entered a new dream that Nightmare had created for her.

**Julius: Did I hear my name?**

**Me: yes. A long long time ago. before this kind person started to read this chapter.**

**Julius: stop trying to force Alice on me when I have you. 1 weird girl is enough for me.**

**Me: i dont know if that is romantic or an insult...**


	5. Chapter 5

**Nightmare-sama~**

"Alice~" Nightmare chimed. "Alice~ wake up you silly girl! We need to go shopping before Gray finds me."

"Go away…" She mumbled, rolling over. Nightmare then took the covers and removed them from the bed.

"Wow." Was all he could say. He found that the nightshirt he gave her had hiked itself up above her belly button. The sudden chill made her jump up and she realized that she wasn't completely covered. She grabbed one of the plush pillows and threw it straight at Nightmare's head.

"Get out!" she cried as she took another pillow to cover herself.

"But-"

"OUT! Get out! I'm awake and will go shopping if you just get out!" She screamed, getting ready to throw another pillow at him.

"Ok, ok. I'm leaving." He chuckled as he walked out the door. He closed it behind him and smiled at himself. 'What a nice body.'

"I might just have to kill you, Nightmare." Alice said as she exited the room pulling at the hem of her dress. "You may have seen too much… But if I ask you will probably lie."

"I didn't see anything." He lied. In truth he only saw her panties but that alone made him feel very perverted.

"Lord Nightmare!" Gray called from behind them.

"Crud! Run!" Nightmare yelled. He grabbed Alice's hand and began to drag her away. Gray started chasing after them.

"W-why is he chasing us?!" she cried out.

"He has more paperwork for me to do. But I want to go shopping with Alice~"

"Get back here Lord Nightmare!" they heard Gray yell. Alice suddenly stopped running.

"I'm tired of running, dang it! You made me run yesterday and you want me to run today. "

"A-Alice, please!" Nightmare cried trying to pull his hand away from hers, but by this time it was too late. Gray had already caught up.

"Thanks Alice…" he mumbled as he grabbed Nightmare. "Where did you think you were going?"

"S-shopping with Alice. She doesn't have a nightgown because it was left behind at the clock tower."

"You have work to do." Gray scowled.

"b-but Alice-"

"Is going shopping with me while you do your job."

"What?!" both Alice and Nightmare asked in unison.

"What? You don't want to go shopping?" he asked while turning to look at her.

"I-I do b-but-"

"You give her the creeps." Nightmare said.

"Nightmare!"

"And you smell like cigarette smoke. She is very easily affected by that stuff you know."

"Nightmare! Shut up. Go do your job. I will go shopping with Gray." She growled.

"Really?" Gray asked.

"Nooo. You should go shopping with me." He pouted.

"Sure, why not. As long as you don't stand too close I think I will be fine. And Nightmare has work to do…. I always admired those who worked hard." She added. Nightmare straightened up.

"I gotta go. I have some work to do." He said as he scurried off. "Take good care of Alice while I'm gone!" he called back.

"So… lead the-" Alice began to ask him to 'lead the way' but Gray pushed her against the wall and held her there.

"How do you do that?" he asked.

"D-do what?" she asked turning her head away from him. He reeked of cigarette smoke.

"Nightmare never does as he is asked unless you force him. How do you make him do it willingly?" he growled.

"I-I don't know. P-please let me go!" Gray grumbled and released the girl.

"You are a very amazing woman…" he mumbled before walking off. "Come on. We don't have all day to shop. I have a job too ya know." Alice then began to run after him. His long strides were as big as two of her own. He was so tall compared to her. She could barely keep up.

The town they went to outside the tower was very… green. Clovers were painted everywhere. Alice finally came to a shop that she thought would have what she was looking for. She went in and found something suitable but remembered she had no money.

"Uhh…. Gray…?"

"What?"

"Can I… uh… borrow some money…? I… It seems that I left it all at the clock tower…." She mumbled. He grumbled under his breath as he reached for his wallet. He then continued to pay for her purchase and began to leave.

"You can make it back to the tower from here, right?" he asked.

"Y-yes."

"Ok then. You can stay here and window shop if you want. I have work to do." He said as he ran off back to the tower. Alice sighed. She began to walk down the line of shops to look.

"Alice?" asked a voice from behind her.

"B-Boris?!" she asked, spinning around to find a pink haired teenager with cat ears and a tail. His tail swooshed back and forth when he saw the girl. She ran to him to give him a hug.

"It's good to know that you made it here safely." He chuckled, hugging her back.

"What are you doing here?! I thought you would stay back in Hearts at the Amusement park."

"Me? Why would I do that? It's not like I work there or anything. I only crashed there. Now I live in the forest. I am also welcome to stay at the Hatter's Mansion if I want."

"The Hatter's mansion? So how busy is it over there?" She asked.

"Wow, uh. They even have Dee and Dum doing paperwork there is so much. Everybody is running around trying to get things done. The castle is the same way with all the guards running around. They didn't even notice me last time, so it was pretty boring."

"Hm… I'm staying here at the tower with Nightmare."

"Nightmare? Nightmare Gottschalk? That useless incubus?"

"He is not useless…. All he time…." She said. Boris started laughing. "His last name is Gottschalk?"

"Yeah."

"I didn't know that."

"He probably didn't want you to know" he chuckled.

A few hours later Boris had bought Alice some ice cream and was chatting about the move.

"I'm so glad I bumped into you Boris." She said.

"Me too. I was actually starting to get worried about you."

"I never knew anybody here in Wonderland can worry about another person."

"We do. At least about you. Only you. Your special." He smiled.

"Why is everybody calling me special!" she yelled, angrily. "I'm just a normal girl."

"With a heartbeat and a choice in life." He said. She sighed at his remark

"Fine…. Well… Nightmare might start to worry if I stay out any longer. I should probably go. Bye Boris."

"Bye Alice, see you later."

**Just for a taste of what is to come...**

**_"Meh. Don't worry about an old man like me. You're so weird for even worrying about the mortician."_**

**_"Don't say that!" she yelled at him. But by that time it was too late. His eyes were closed and his body began to change into a clock right inside her arms. She took the clock and held it close to herself as she cried._**

**_"Hand the clock over." Blood said._**

**~Chapter 8**

**Review if you want me to post more. I have up until chapter 12 done.**


	6. Chapter 6

"What is taking Alice so long?" Nightmare pouted.

"I don't know." Gray replied.

"Why did you leave her there?!" Nightmare snapped. "What if she is lost?"

"She wouldn't be lost. The town is right outside the tower." He grumbled.

"What if she went to the Hatters mansion to stay?" Gray cleared his throat and tried to forget what he did to her. "What did you do?!" Nightmare fumed as he turned to Gray angrily.

"I asked her a question."

"A question doesn't involve holding her against a wall against her will! Get out."

"But Lord Night-"

"I said get out! And don't come back until you have Alice with you!" He snapped. Gray then turned and ran out of the room. 'Finally,' Nightmare thought. 'I can take a nap.' He laid his head down on his desk and fell asleep.

"Julius." He said as he entered the dream of the clockmaker. His long navy blue hair was pulled back by a bow at his shoulders like usual. His arms were crossed and he started glaring at Nightmare.

"Nightmare." He grumbled acknowledging the incubus. Silence.

"Alice is fine, just so you know." Nightmare said. Julius's eyes widened in shock.

"So she made it through the move?" he asked.

"Yes. She is staying with me and Gray at the tower here."

"well that's good to know…."

"She is worried about you. Told me to tell you make sure you sleep and eat." Julius grunted in response. "Any message you want me to send back to her when I wake up?" Nightmare asked.

"Why bother? The sooner she moves on from me the better."

"So you knew she had feelings for you?" Julius nodded. "And you didn't act on the feelings you had for her?"

"Of course not. What kind of person do you think I am? I'm almost 10 years older than her."

"Age shouldn't matter to anybody. Actually it seems you're the only one it matters to. All the other male role holders have an interest, including Gowland."

"And you?"

"I plan to make my move soon." He laughed. "You know she misses you a lot…."

"Why?" Julius asked.

"Because you're the reason she stayed in Wonderland in the first place." He mumbled. Julius began to blush. "Oh. Gray tried to kill her."

"WHAT?!" Julius yelled.

"Yeah. Did you know she is allergic to cigarette smoke? She couldn't breathe for the longest of time. It kinda scared me actually. Then he kinda attacked her in the hallway, holding her against a wall." Nightmare paused for a second. "Errr… I gotta go now. Someone is waking me up from my nap. Still no message for Alice?"

"T... Tell her that this place is a whole lot quieter without her… and I miss the coffee..."

"Nightmare! Wake up. You have work to do!"

"Hmmmm…. Alice?" he asked, sitting up and rubbing his eyes. "What are you doing back…? YAWN"

"I came back thinking you would be worried…. I have been gone for several hours…. I guess I was wrong….." She frowned.

"No, no, no. I was worried. I just sent Gray out to find you. Well… maybe not just… I wonder how long I was asleep for…. Well... Oh yeah. I talked to Julius just now."

"R-Really?!"

"Yup."

"What did he say?!" Alice asked.

"He says… the clock tower is a lot quieter without you." Alice frowned.

"Oh….." she said sadly.

"He also said he misses the coffee. Hm. Coffee sounds nice right now." He said getting up.

"N-no. You can stay here. I will make you a cup" she said before darting out of the room. Nightmare smiled.

'Such a sweet girl' he thought to himself.

Several minutes later Alice walked in with two mugs, some cream, sugar, honey, and some other things that she thought he could put in coffee and placed everything on his desk. She was unsure as to how he liked his so she just brought everything. Julius always liked his coffee plain.

"I-I wasn't sure how you liked your coffee so I just brought whatever I could find." She said, blushing.

"It's fine. I like my coffee sweet, so next time all you need is sugar and cream." He chuckled. He began to put what he wanted in his drink while Alice just drank it straight. "Why do you drink it plain?" he asked.

"Well… Julius always drank it plain and he didn't have sugar and cream and all that so I just drank it plain as well. I'm sure he would have bought some additives for me if I wanted it but I didn't want to trouble him. Now I'm used to it like this." She said, taking another sip.

"This coffee isn't bad." He said, taking a sip for himself.

"Julius asked me to make coffee all the time… I just used it as practice. Sometimes he even showed me the best way to grind the beans for maximum flavor…. But I can never seem to get it right. The coffee he made was delicious."

"You really miss him, don't you…?" Nightmare asked.

"Yeah…. He… he let me stay at the clock tower for my stay in wonderland…. He explained everything to me that I needed to know at the time…. He helped me so much…. Now I can't repay him for all the kindness he has given to me." Her eyes began to water.

"Want me to tell him that next time?"

"N-no. He would probably just call me a troublesome woman…."

"You think so?"

"I'm pretty sure of it."

"I could tell you exactly what he thinks."

"I find no point to that." Alice sighed. "I won't ever get to see him again…. He must be happy I am out of his hair. He always said I was too noisy anyway…"

"If that's what you want then so be it. Any message you want me to give him the next time I see him?"

"No. I don't want to trouble him with my feelings…. What about Gowland? Can you see Gowland?"

"Getting to Gowland is no problem. He sleeps a lot more often than Julius does. Do you want me to give him a message?"

"Yeah. I want him to know that I miss having fun at the amusement park with him."

"You need to stop thinking about what you would want to say. I might just have to tell them what I pick up from your mind." Nightmare chuckled.

"Tell them and you die." She threatened.

"Well you would never know if I told them or not."

"Lord Nightmare! I have looked everywhere and can't… find….." Gray said as he entered the door and looked at Nightmare and then saw Alice.

"Oh good. You made it back." Nightmare said, smiling.

**Dawww, Julius cares. I love you Julius.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Kitty Kitty**

"Gray. What is that?" Alice asks as Gray walks into the room.

"Hm? Oh, erh… Nothing! Nothing at all." He says as he turns to leave the room.

"Not so fast lizard. Bring it here before you kill it." Nightmare said.

"Why would I ever kill it?!" Gray asks.

"Well… what happened to that pet puppy I got you a few weeks ago?"

"I-er…." The gears in Gray's mind turned under the pressure. He knew every thought was open to Nightmare but he didn't want to confess anything out loud.

"Give it to Alice. I'm sure she would appreciate it just as much as you do." Nightmare ordered. Gray reluctantly handed over the small thing that he was holding. It quietly mewed at Alice as she looked at it. She then turned to look at Gray who was now blushing.

"He has a thing for cute things." Nightmare chuckled.

'I guess I'm not cute at all… he seems to hate me…' Alice thought, hoping Nightmare would hear.

"That's not true, Alice." he muttered.

'Which part?' She began to cuddle the kitten.

"I don't know. Why don't you ask him?" Nightmare chuckled.

'You know perfectly well I don't want to talk to him. He scares me.'

"That's not a nice thing to say. I want you two to be friends. Why can't you two just get along?"

"Can you please stop talking about me inside your head, Alice?" Gray said, angrily.

"Fine." 'Bye Nightmare.' She then got up and headed for the door, giving the kitten back to Gray.

"Wait! Don't go Alice!"

"Why? I will see you in my dreams later. Right now, you have some work to do. I'm exhausted from traveling through town and I need to make sure my nightgown fits ok." She said before she left the room.

"What's her problem?" Gray asked.

"First of all, your questioning her in the hallway scared her. Secondly, you didn't seem too happy about buying her nightgown, and thirdly you make her think she isn't cute because you don't like her."

"I never said I don't like her and I never said she wasn't cute."

"Then maybe she would feel better if you told her that."

"I'm not going to tell her that! Do you know how awkward it would be?!"

"Fine. Suit yourself." Nightmare shrugged and proceeded to get out of his chair. "I'm going to go see Alice now."

"No you're not! You have work to do! How is it that she has so much control over you?!"

"Because I love her." He mumbled before sitting back down and crossing his arms.

"What makes you think you love her?" Gray asked.

"I don't think I love her. I know I love her. Now get out of my business before I start getting into yours." Nightmare growled. Gray grabbed his head in memory of Nightmare forcing himself into his mind and digging through his memories. It was not a feeling he wanted to experience again. Sometimes, Nightmare can be quite scary.

"I-I'm sorry Lord Nightmare. I-I will l-leave you alone now." Gray said as he darted for the door. Nightmare smiled.

'Sometimes it is good to be feared.' He thought.

"She really does have control of me… doesn't she…?" he asked himself. Sighing, he finished his work before heading off to bed.

**Why was this chapter just randomly short? its like the 2nd shortest of this story!**


	8. Chapter 8

"Alice~" Nightmare called out in the dream world.

"Hm? Oh. It's you. And I was having such a pleasant dream until you came along." Alice replied, snidely.

"Oh Alice. Why do you hurt me like this? I am but a sickly incubus."

"Pft. And you're the boss of this huge tower and a ton of servants and that butt hole Gray. A sickly incubus you may be, but an incubus with power deserves no pity from me." She laughed.

"Who are you? Peter White? Trying to make a rhyme?" Nightmare said as he began to laugh.

"Please tell me Peter was left in Hearts!" she cried.

"I'm afraid not. He lives at the castle, remember?"

"Dang it… he is like a stalker."

"If you think about it, I'm an even bigger stalker. Invading your dreams to watch you." He chuckled.

"Well maybe I like dream stalkers better than bunny eared ones."

"Are you saying that you like me?" He asked, raising his eyebrow.

"Of course I like you." She said, giving him a hug.

"Then why such the crude remark when I entered?"

"Because…. I was waiting for you for what seemed like forever…." She whispered. Nightmare felt the heat rising into his cheeks. "W-why are you blushing? S-stop reading my mind! Maybe I should ask Gray about how I can block you with my mind!"

"You know, you can't really block me from your mind. I can easily read surface thoughts and you can block me from reading too deeply into them by covering them with different thoughts but if I really wanted to know what anybody was thinking I can get what I want."

"Sometimes you scare me…" Alice whispered.

"I-I'm sorry. I don't mean to. I never want to scare you on purpose. I don't even want to go too deep in your mind. All I want is to read the surface thoughts."

"Then I must learn to block you." She sighed.

"It took Gray years to figure out how to do it." Nightmare chuckled. He suddenly stopped. "I feel Gowland is asleep now. Want me to go talk to him for you?" Alice nodded. Nightmare disappeared and Alice felt alone. After a while of waiting for Nightmare she decided to try to get some real shut eye. She closed her eyes and found herself in a dream.

_She was sitting in her normal place with Julius while he was working on his clocks. She looked at him and smiled. He frowned when there was a knocking on the door._

"_Enter." He called out to whoever was knocking. It was Blood and he… he had his gun out and pointed at Julius. There wasn't enough reaction time for Julius to get out of the way before Blood shot him. Blood began to laugh hysterically. He just stood at the door entrance, not leaving or coming closer to kill Alice. _

"_Julius!" she cried out. He was bleeding and was in pain. "Julius! Please don't die on me!" she cried._

"_Meh. Don't worry about an old man like me. You're so weird for even worrying about the mortician."_

"_Don't say that!" she yelled at him. But by that time it was too late. His eyes were closed and his body began to change into a clock right inside her arms. She took the clock and held it close to herself as she cried._

"_Hand the clock over." Blood said._

"_No! NEVER!" she cried out._

"_Fine. Have it your way." He said as he brought up his gun and fired right at her._

"Julius!" she cried as she woke up in the night. A tear had found its way down her cheek. She began to cry and hugged a pillow for support. It didn't work. She started sobbing and found no comfort in anything. She jumped out of bed and ran out the door.

"Nightmare…" She whimpered as she reached for his door. He was the only comfort she could think of. The closest thing to Julius she had. "Nightmare…?" she entered the door. She found him still asleep in his bed. Her tears blurred her vision. "N-Nightmare…." She whispered, gently shaking him. Tears flowed freely from her eyes. Some landed on his face and woke him up.

"Alice…?" he groaned, wiping away the tears that had fallen on his face.

"C-can I s-sleep here w-with you?" she asked. He was surprised.

"Urh…." She frowned and turned around.

"Ok, I'm sorry I woke you up…."

"No, no. Wait. I'm still waking up. Did you ask if you could sleep with me?" She nodded in the dark room. She knew he wouldn't see it but he would hear it from her mind.

"Please….." She whimpered as she sat on the edge of his bed.

"Come here." He said as he opened his arms. She fell right into them and pulled herself close to him nuzzling the crook of his neck so she could cry into his shoulder. His eye opened wide at how fast she had pulled herself to him. "E-excuse me for one second." He muttered. He pulled away and rolled to the other side of the bed where he found his handkerchief to cough into. He began to cough up blood.

"N-Nightmare…? Did I do something wrong…?" she asked, reaching out to him.

"No. Don't be silly." He smiled rolling back over to her. "It's just….."

"Just what?" she asked, pulling herself close.

"Nothing. Never mind. Get to sleep, please." He said as he wrapped an arm around her to rub her back. His other hand rested on her hand that was placed on his chest. 'It's just that… you startled me. Everything moved so fast…. And I felt so happy.' He tilted his head to rest on hers. After a while her breathing settled down to a reasonable pace and he figured she was asleep. He then closed his eyes to see her in the dream world once more.

She was sitting on the ground hugging her legs. She looked up at Nightmare as he appeared in the dream. Her eyes were pink and puffy from crying.

"Tell me everything…" He whispered. He sat down and pulled her onto his lap where she wrapped her arms around his neck. He wrapped one arm around her hip and the other one became entangled in her hair as he held her head to his shoulder. He frowned. She only wanted to talk to him with her mind. She told him about how she had started dreaming after he left and she told him about the dream. "I promise you Julius is alive and well." He said. A brief pause. "I'm sorry I left. I should have just put you in a good dream instead of leaving you here. It's all my fault." Silence. "No, no. It is my fault. Here, want me to put you in a good dream?" he asked. "Ok then. You can stay here with me. Want me to tell you what Gowland said?" She nodded. 'A reaction!' he thought. "Well he said he missed you too. Said he is building a new ride for the next time you are able to go see him." Silence.

"You're so kind to be there for me…" She whispered.

**Julius: Why did you kill me?!**

**Me: your not dead. It was a bad dream. But it was the only way to get Alice to climb into bed with Nightmare.**

**Blood: Why was I the killer?**

**Me: well you tried to kill him before and... I dont really like you. You're a creepy rapist.**


	9. Chapter 9

Nightmare awoke to find that Alice was still at his side. He smiled as he looked into her thoughts. 'Nightmare is such a good guy… Julius never let me sleep in his bed after I had a nightmare. He treated me like a kid…. Nightmare… he…. He is so kind to me even though I don't deserve it…. I haven't done anything here to earn my keep… Maybe I should ask Nightmare for a job…. Mmmmm. Nightmare smells so good….. I would say he takes much better care of his body than Julius but…. Nightmare refuses to go to the doctor for his illness…..' He yawned, not wanting to hear anymore of her thoughts.

"Nightmare?" She asked. "You awake?"

"Hmm? Oh, yeah."

"Can I stay here for a little while longer?"

"Stay here as long as you need to." He said as she squeezed her closer. "You smell good too." He whispered in her ear. She blushed and felt like hitting him, but she didn't. Instead she got up and straddled his torso. Her arms were on either side of his head.

"You're so mean, you know that?" she asked. His eye widened as she wagged her eyebrows at him.

"Oh, so you want to play that game?" he smiled and flipped her off of him. He then got on top of her so she couldn't move. "How's that?" he asked.

"Lord Nightmare." Gray said as he opened the door. "You're late for…. The…." He stopped when he saw Nightmare on top of Alice. He obviously didn't want to know what was happening because he ran out of the room asking for forgiveness. Alice blushed as she started to try to get Nightmare off of her. His body only pressed against hers more. He took her wrists and held them against the bed.

"I play for keeps." He smiled, kissing her neck.

"S-stop." She moaned. Her mouth said no but her body screamed yes. He could hear her arguing with herself whether she should let him continue or try to push him off. This time he kissed her jaw. She moaned again. "D-don't!" she cried. 'It feels so good.' He then continued to kiss her neck softly until her heartbeat quickened. He bit down on her neck and she screamed in fear and pleasure. This snapped him out of his frenzy as he pushed off of her. She laid in the same position, looking at him in surprise. Her mind was working, trying to figure out why he had stopped.

"I'm sorry." He whispered as he ran off to the bathroom. Alice could hear him coughing up blood. She frowned and sat up. He didn't draw blood on her neck, which she assumed was a good thing. She then continued to get out of the bed to walk to her own room. When she opened the door she found Gray pacing the hall, thinking hard about something.

"Gray?" She asked as she shut the door. He jumped when he heard his name and spun around. She was in the nightgown he had bought for her. He looked and found a red bite mark on her neck and blushed, looking away.

"Nothing happened." She said as she ran back to her room. Gray then proceeded to enter the room once more. He found Nightmare was in the bathroom splashing water on his face. His hands were shaking and his breathing was irregular.

"Lord Nightmare…?" Gray asked.

"Go away." He ordered. "I… I need time to think…."

"Yes sir." Gray said as he turned to leave the room.

"I am an incubus after all…." He muttered to himself. But why couldn't he control himself? It didn't make since. Before he could always….. Why with Alice? He loved Alice; he didn't want to hurt her. He growled at himself. Luckily he was able to stop himself before it got any farther.

"What happened?" Gray growled as he entered Alice's room.

"I-I don't know! I went to sleep in his bed because I had a nightmare and was scared. I woke up next to him and he read my thoughts. I said he was mean when I straddled his chest. Then he flipped me over and got on top of me and began to kiss my neck. He only stopped when I screamed after he bit me…" she touched her neck where he had bitten her. Gray grimaced.

"He is an incubus." He muttered. He turned and left the room to do any work that needed to be done.

**Nightmare: Why did you do this to me?**

**Me: cuz its fun to mess with people.**


	10. Chapter 10

Alice avoided Nightmare for the rest of the day. Although it wasn't hard because Nightmare was also trying to avoid Alice by doing his work in his room which he locked himself in. Alice decided that now would be an as good time as any to go explore the new landscape and see who all had made it to the land of clover. She decided her first destination would be the Hatters Mansion. Peter White would not let her go to the mansion if she were to go to the castle first. The trail was long and she felt like she had gotten lost several times along the way until she reached the gates.

"Onee-san!" called two voices. Alice looked up to see Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum running up to her. They wore their normal outfit of uniform, matching in every way except the color. Dee wore blue and Dum would always wear red. The two little boys were adorable to Alice, with their cute little hats and….

"Hey you two" she smiled. They tackled her with more force than they normally did, knocking the wind out of her. She opened her eyes to see two 20 year olds looking happily at her. She looked at them and saw that it was Dee and Dum.

"W-what?"

"We can grow big now, onee-san!" they said happily.

"B-big?" She looked them over. They still wore their color schemes but only the ties. They wore black suits with either a blue or red tie. Dee had his hair grown out where and Dum had his cut short.

"Yeah. What do you think?" Dum asked.

"I… I liked you better when you were smaller." She mumbled.

"Onee-san likes younger men?" Dee asked.

"N-no, it's just that-"

"Onee-san doesn't like us?"

"No. you're just so much cuter as kids." She said.

"Oh, ok." They changed back. "Now come on, I'm sure the boss will love to see you." Alice grimaced at the idea but the two children had already grabbed her and started pulling her to the mansion.

Alice quietly sipped her cup of tea along with Blood and Elliot. Blood Dupre was a tall man with long black hair, white suit, and a strange top hat. He was the Mafia boss. Elliot March was the second in command. He was one of the tallest men in Wonderland and had long orange hair and brown dog ears (actually rabbit but you wouldn't last long if you said that) sticking out of his head. A lot of the time Alice had to resist the urge to cuddle the fluffy ears.

"I'm so glad you made it to Clover safely!" Elliot said.

"Hmmm…? Oh… yeah…" she mumbled, taking another sip of her tea.

"Is something wrong, young lady?" Blood asked. Alice refused to look at him.

"No." She lied "I just miss Julius…"

"Hm. I see. The Clock Tower doesn't exist in Clover. So where are you staying?" Blood looked up at the girl.

"The Clover Tower." She muttered.

"Aww. Why don't you stay here?" Elliot asked. His ears flattened down.

"I'm not sure I would be too safe in the house full of people from the mafia." She said, hesitantly. "I mean Dee and Dum can now turn into adults. Very dangerous for a girl like me."

"I ask you to reconsider." Blood said calmly. He took a sip from his tea. "It's plenty safe here for you. And you would stay in my room with me so those two guards won't ever interfere with you."

"Nightmare might beg to differ." She mumbled.

"Oh yes… the incubus…. "

"If he tries anything your always welcome to stay here." Eliot added.

"Thanks but no thanks." She said, standing up. "I should probably get going. Don't want to be traveling at night." She said.

"Where are you going?" Blood asked.

"To the castle. I decided to come here first. But I really can't stay much longer. Thank you for the delicious tea." She smiled and left.

"Good bye young lady." Blood smirked.

She began to walk toward the direction she believed the castle to be. After a while she noticed that she had become completely lost. She sighed, how long will it take her this time to learn the way to places? Suddenly the bushes began to rattle and Ace fell out.

"Ace?" Alice asked.

"Alice!" he said jumping up to hug her. His brunet hair was short and spiked up and he wore a red coat. His red eyes matched his clothing perfectly. "I'm lost." He said.

"Me too…" She sighed.

"Maybe we can be lost together!" Ace suggested.

"Actually, I was hoping to get to the castle and back to the tower before night fall." She shrugged. "I think the castle is this way…" she mumbled. "How long have you been lost, Ace?"

"Maybe 4 or 5 days." He said scratching his head. Did he know about the move? Alice sighed. "Julius is probably angry, isn't he?" Ace asked.

"Urr… well… about that….." Alice said as she kicked the dirt. "We… uh… We moved… We are… no longer in the country of Hearts." Ace's mouth flew open.

"What?! No wonder I couldn't find the clock tower!" he yelled. He looked quite upset. "Well…. Guess I need to get to the castle, huh?" Alice nodded and took his hand and began to drag him in one direction. After walking for so long she finally found the maze entrance to the castle. A sigh of relief left her lips.

"Huh. You found it. Good job." He said as he walked into the maze. He didn't seem like his normal self though. Something was… off.

"Ace. Wait for me!" Alice said as she dashed after him.

"Alice!" She heard from behind her. "You made it to Clover!" Peter yelled behind her. She braced for impact as he jumped on her.

"Ow… Peter! Get off of me!"

"Did ya come to see me?" He asked.

"No. I came to see Vivaldi." She mumbled from under Peter.

"We are glad to see you are ok, Alice." Said a feminine voice.

"Vivaldi!" Alice said attempting to push the white rabbit off of her to stand up. Vivaldi was a beautiful woman compared to Alice. Her purple hair hung from her head in curls and the crown sat on the top of her head. Her dress was red and covered in heart shapes.

"Where have you been all this time?" Peter asked as he pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. He wore a red jacket and a tie with a funny little clock design on it. His eyes were red like Ace's and his hair was white. He had rabbit ears (like Elliot) perched at the top of his head.

"Me? I have been staying at the Clover Tower." She announced. "But I'm afraid I can't stay here long. I don't want to travel around at night. Especially since the scenery changed."

"Why don't you spend the night?" Vivaldi asked.

"I'm sure Nightmare would be worried if I stayed out too-"

"Nonsense. He will live. Now come. Have a cup of tea with us. There is so much we should catch up on."

"I-I don't know…" Alice mumbled. Poof, Peter turned into a cute rabbit.

"Alice, pweeze stay da night?" he asked.

"Ok~" she said as she picked up the rabbit and carried him to the tea sight. Ace and Vivaldi rolled their eyes and led the way to the tea table.

**Daww... I had to make Peter cute **


	11. Chapter 11

After the tea party, Alice was exhausted. She was still holding bunny Peter in her arms. When she got to her room she put him down and flopped on the bed face first. She fell asleep almost instantly. Nightmare on the other hand could not sleep a wink. He sat in his bed with his head full of emotions. Gray was pacing the floor at the end of his bed.

"Where could she be?" he growled.

"She could be anywhere." Gray answered.

"Why did she leave? Why didn't she tell me she was leaving?"

"Maybe she was avoiding you." Gray said. Nightmare flinched at the idea. "But it seems to me you were avoiding her too since you locked yourself in your bedroom and actually did some work."

"What is that supposed to mean?!" Nightmare snapped. He sighed and regained his composure. "What if she is dead?" he asked, grimacing.

"I highly doubt she is-"

"Dang it, Gray. The last thing I did to her was bite her on the neck! The last thought I heard from her was her asking herself if she did something wrong. Ugh. The last words I said to her were 'I'm sorry'. Dang it! Why didn't I apologize instead of run?!"

"You did apolo-"

"No. I mean really apologize. Not just say sorry." He growled at himself. "What was I thinking?!"

"That it was an embarrassing situation and you didn't want to confront her after the ordeal."

"Why do you have to be so gosh darn technical?!" he hissed. He sighed to calm down again.

"You need to get some sleep. You have work to do tomorrow."

"You think I'm going to be thinking about work when Alice is out there somewhere? What if she is lost in the Joker's forest? What if she is hurt and is calling my name? What if-"

"The only way you would know is to sleep."

"I. Cant. Sleep. Not without knowing if she is ok. Leave me. I want to be alone now." He mumbled.

"Are you su-"

"Yes now remove yourself from the premises!" Gray then practically ran out of the room to avoid Nightmare's anger. Nightmare's body was shaking in anger but who was he angry at? Alice? No. It wasn't her fault he scared her away. He was angry at himself. Too many emotions filled him. He punched the wall in frustration and gathered more paperwork to busy his eager mind.

"Mmmm…." Alice groaned as she rolled over in the bed.

"Gahk!" said a voice. Alice suddenly jumped up to see she had rolled over onto bunny Peter.

"I'm sorry Peter" She cried, hugging the poor bunny.

"I'm fine." The bunny answered. She smiled at him and went to lie back in bed, holding the bunny close to her chest. She petted him as gently as she could and began to wonder what Nightmare was doing. He didn't invade her dream so maybe he was angry at her. She huffed out a sigh as she began to get out of bed.

"Where awe you gowin?" the bunny asked.

"I need to head back to the clover tower." She sighed.

"Awww, can't you stay a widdle while wonger?"

"I'm afraid not. Nightmare must be furious."

"Dat old incubus? He wouldn't hurt a fwy. So pweeze stay here wiff me."

"I cant." She said as she looked away from the bunny. His cute powers were too great. She began to walk out of the room.

"Alice, why don't you just move here?" Human Peter asked.

"Because I live at the clock tower- I mean Clover tower." She mumbled.

"Why?"

"I was always most comfortable at the clock tower and the Clover tower is now the closest thing to it so it is comfortable for me." She entered the main area.

"Alice." Vivaldi said. "Where are you going?"

"I'm going back to the tower. Nightmare must be worried about me."

"Ok. Where is Peter going?" She asked. "Nightmare won't be worried about him. That and he has paperwork to do. Our job is always the hardest after a move…." She muttered.

"I don't want her to get lost." Peter said.

"I can find my own way." Alice snapped as she left the castle. "Bye Vivaldi, I will come back later to see you again." She called out. She could see the tower from where she stood so she decided to walk straight and just keep walking.


	12. Chapter 12

"Miss Alice?" said a voice. Alice looked up. "Oh, thank God it's really you." The servant huffed a sigh of relief.

"What's wrong?" Alice asked.

"Lord Nightmare wishes to see you." He said as the faceless man grabbed her wrist and dragged her in the direction of the tower.

"What if I don't want to see Lord Gottschalk?" she asked, attempting to pull her arm out of his grip.

"He ordered all the servants to find you. It is an order that must be done, even if I have to knock you out to get you there. But if I did that Lord Nightmare would surely want to kill me….." he mumbled. "Please come with me willingly! I don't want to die by his hand!" he cried.

"Die by his hand? I have never seen him kill before." She gulped.

"Yes. It's rare to see him mad enough but it's a torturous process of meddling in the mind until the body can't take the pain anymore. It only takes a few seconds to be rolling on the floor in pain."

'Is Nightmare someone I should actually be afraid of…?' she asked herself. She was practically dragged all the way back to the tower.

"Lord Nightmare!" Yelled the servant as he opened the door. Nightmare was sitting on his bed doing paperwork.

"What?!" he snarled as he looked up. "Alice?" he asked, standing up. He floated toward her. She could almost feel the anger within him. "Leave us." He ordered the servant. He was happy to oblige and closed the door behind him. Nightmare then proceeded to lock the door and put the key in his pocket. Alice's mind raced and every little thought made Nightmare wince. She was scared.

"D*** It! Why the f*** would I want to kill you?! That's ridiculous!" he yelled, making the situation worse. Alice began to cry. He turned back to pacing to get rid of some of the anger, to calm down so he could talk to Alice without yelling. A few brief moments later he asked "Do you have any idea how worried you made me?" She shook her head no in response. "Why didn't you tell me you were leaving? On anybody for that matter?" The anger that he felt could still be heard ever so slightly in his words.

"I didn't want to bother anybody who was working." She mumbled wiping the tears from her eyes.

"It is better if you don't lie to me Alice." he said.

"Fine. I wanted to avoid you because things would be awkward. I used that opportunity to go visit the mansion and castle. They made me stay the night so I couldn't get back. I'm sorry, ok?"

"You had me so worried… what if you were killed? Lost? What if you left me forever…?" He began to cry.

"Then why didn't you enter my dreams to know that I was fine?"

"Because I couldn't sleep. Every moment I didn't have you was a moment I couldn't close my eye. When I close it I see me from the other morning and that side of me scares even myself. It wasn't me…. I am an incubus and what you witnessed was my true nature. I didn't want to hurt you, Alice. So I pulled away. I was scared…." Alice suddenly wrapped her arms around him.

"It's ok…. I'm here now…. It's ok…." She whispered, trying to calm him down. She gently rubbed his back. He hugged her back and didn't let go for the longest time. "You need to sleep…." She whispered.

"Not unless you are here with me…." He whimpered.

"I will be here. But you need to get changed." She said as she lifted the key from his pocket. "I will go tell everybody that you are fine and getting ready for bed so they don't worry about you. You just get changed and get to bed. I will be back soon." She turned and left the room. She wasn't lying about coming right back, he knew this. He reluctantly went to go change into his PJs. When he got out of the bathroom Alice was already laying in the bed, wearing her nightdress.

"Ya know…." Nightmare said as he climbed into bed. "Gray should have bought you a sexier one. That one is so plain."

"Well I didn't want to use up his money on something like that." She mumbled.

"Actually, it was my money. He carries my wallet. He thinks I'm too irresponsible to go out shopping." He snuggled up against her body. "You're so beautiful, Alice." He whispered.

"Shut up and get to sleep." She groaned. He chuckled at her before entering the dream world. He decided he didn't want to stand around by himself because he knew Alice wasn't tired so he changed to a dreamless sleep so he could wake up 'faster'.

**Taking a break here. Might not even continue this because I'm out of ideas. My mind is... elsewhere.**


End file.
